Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour freed!
Al Jazeera reporter, Ahmed Mansour who was detained in Berlin has been freed by German authorities. Mostefa Souag, the acting director general of Al Jazeera said, "We hope that this will be a lesson to the Egyptian authorities that the rest of the world values freedom of the press." German authorities said that they couldn't extradite anyone who risks being sentenced to death abroad.
Ahmed Mansour is an Egyptian presenter and interviewer with Al Jazeera and a writer. Writer of over 20 books in Arabic, Mansour has been associated with Al Jazeera since 1990s. He is the presenter of a show called Bela Hodod, an Arab live television show which airs on Al Jazeera's channel on a weekly basis.
Senior Al Jazeera journalist, Ahmed Mansour was arrested at Berlin airport while on his way to Qatar. Mansour was arrested after an international warrant was issued against him by Egyptian police. An Egyptian court in Cairo had sentenced him to serve prison for 15 years for torturing a lawyer in an uprising which took place in 2011.
Al Jazeera and Ahmed Mansour both denied the torture charges following which Mansour had been detained by Germany on the request of Egyptian authorities. In October 2014, Egypt wasn't allowed to issue a warrant against Mansour by the International Police body Interpol as it did not meet their rules. Mansour said that the incident was a misunderstanding and hoped for it to be resolved.
Al Jazeera had demanded the immediate release of Mansour by German authorities. Masour was investigated by a temporary detention investigative judge and transferred to Moabit prison in Berlin. Mostefa Souag, acting Director General of Al Jazeera network said, "The crackdown on journalists by Egyptian authorities is well known. Ahmed Mansour is one of the Arab world's most respected journalists and must be released immediately."
Germany has no plans to release Al Jazeera reporter, Ahmed Mansour who was arrested on 20 June. A final decision will be made by Germany's justice and foreign ministers on whether Mansour should be extradited or not, keeping Egypt's legal system and the doubts in the case in mind. The authorities had received an Interpol request to arrest Mansour.
With more than 65 bureaus and professionally qualified staff of approximately 3000 members across the world, Al Jazeera broadcasts in more than 100 countries with a viewership of about 220 million.
